“Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’ ”” (Luke 4:23, HCSB)

“Jesus replied to them, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”” (Luke 5:31–32, HCSB)

Dr. Luke lifts the quotes from Jesus which has a medical theme. Jesus quotes a proverb. The proverb comes from a Greek playwright, Aeschylus. The quote “Doctor, heal yourself”  means that a physician who is sick should first get well before they go around to heal other people. There is also a moral application to the proverb. The meaning is that a person should attend to their own moral problems before they address the moral problems of others.

Jesus replies with the following connection. His point is that if Jesus is a doctor, then He doesn’t need to go to someone who seems to be healthy, Instead, Jesus will focus on those who are morally ill. Jesus doesn’t need to heal those who are well (the righteous). Instead, He has come to heal the sick (sinners).

He compares his ministry to a doctor who helps sick people. He heals people in Capernaum in these two chapters. What does the work of Jesus as a doctor mean to me? It reveals that Jesus is the expert when it comes to my physical and spiritual condition. A patient goes to a doctor, shares their hurts and obeys the prescription. In the same way, Christians need to refer people to Jesus when they notice their spiritual disease.

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